The Missing Piece - A Harry Potter Fanfiction
by zenkat11
Summary: Loretta Knight was raised a Muggle her whole childhood, little did she know her family was shielding her from the magical world; fearing for her life. One day, when she was a fully grown adult, she received a letter from Dumbledore with a task. He decided that she become Snape's assistant. While she helps in class, he tutors her. Loretta and Snape become close as time goes on.
1. Chapter One: The Letter

Chapter One: The Letter 

Loretta Knight sat in her office as she finished typing up the last bit of paperwork from her previous case. The victim was named Mason Williams. Male. Approximately 30 years of age. Caucasian. 5'9". The pattern on the sternum was consistent with blunt force trauma done by the back end of a claw hammer. The murder weapon was found in the killer's shed; it appeared he kept it among his collection as a symbol of power. A trophy won in battle. He had it right out in the open for all to see, as he thought no one would ever know what crime it had committed, that he had committed. Once examined, the victim's blood was found on the weapon using luminol, a solution that reveals blood when an LED light is shined onto it. The killer was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

The forensic anthropologist leaned back in her office chair and drew out a long-winded sigh. She was completely exhausted. All-nighters surely do take a lot out of a woman. Her glazed over eyes searched for the clock. "4:38… damn.." She cursed. Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, maybe if she rested her head for just a moment…

"Dr. Knight?" A rather faint voice asked. Loretta picked her head up from the desk as she blinked open her eyes. "Hm?"  
"Have you been here all night?" The voice belonged to one of Loretta's co-workers, Alijah Davari, the team's analytical chemist. His job was to examine various substances that show up during cases, such as poisons, food, chemicals, etc. He was a thirty-five-year-old man with a black crew cut and a small amount of stubble to match.

"Yeah." Was simply her response. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. As she attempted to stand, the scientist tripped over her chair, taking it down with her and letting out a little  
Alijah cringed at the display of unrefined grace. "Still tired huh? Seems like you need a caffeine fix." He offered the woman a hand. She took it and he grunted as he pulled her up. Loretta dusted herself off. "Yeah, I think you're right." She agreed.

The two headed into the cafeteria. They were met with a loud clattering of dishes and boisterous chattering that seemed to bounce off the walls. Loretta wasn't exactly fond of these noises, but what could she do? Yell at the top of her lungs to tell everyone to shut up? Yeah, that would go well.  
Alijah poured his co-worker a cup of hot water and placed in a tea bag. "Two sugars, one creamer, right Dr. Death?"

"You know me too well." She chuckled a bit. "Why do you insist on calling me that anyway?"

The man simply shrugged and handed her the teacup. "Let it steep for a bit."

Loretta rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

Once they grabbed something to eat and drink, they sat at a table. "Sorry, you got stuck with the paperwork man." Alijah apologized. "I mean, nobody enjoys that part of the job." He held a teacup to his lips and took a sip.

"It's fine, I don't really mind." She didn't exactly care for it, but somebody had to get it done. Paperwork was perhaps the most boring part of the job, aside from waiting for lab results. Loretta was often the one to take up the task; she knew how necessary it was, as the paperwork kept everything about the criminal case so the administration could refer to it when needed.

She looked around the room and took a bite of her strawberry scone. "Anyway, I've almost finished it. After that, I'm heading back to ye ol' apartment." The brunette joked.  
"When are you going to move out of that dump Lorie?" He hated how she had to live in such a terrible environment. For instance, the walls were cracked, there were always shouting matches with the neighbors, and criminal acts often partook in the area. It was no place for a respected forensic anthropologist to be housed. She wasn't necessarily poor, she just hadn't found a new place yet. There was such high demand in all of the houses in the area near the lab, which was where she was planning on moving. "Uh…" She started.  
"That bad huh?" He guessed rightly.  
"Yeah." She took another sip of her tea. The woman sighed, pushed her plate to her left, and laid her head down on the table. "What am I going to do..?"

Alijah patted her back. "You'll figure something out soon enough kid." 

Loretta slumped on her bed. The cushion felt nice on her aching, restless body. She knew how unhealthy these all-nighters were for her, but what could she do? It was her job. The forensic anthropologist felt her seemingly leaden eyelids start to droop. With each blink, they closed further and further until there was nothing but a thick, black, emptiness. Then, all sense of sound, touch, smell, even taste, had vanished entirely along with her consciousness of reality itself.

Something seemed to be calling out to her; an ominous sort of whisper. It was unintelligible. She whipped around at each angle she heard it come from, but there was nothing; nothing but pure, looming darkness. Then, a whisper, "Loretta…"

Her eyes snapped open. "Mm.." She groaned and sat up; what a odd dream that was. Loretta noticed something on her lap: a letter. She picked it up and opened it carefully. It read:

'Dear Dr. Knight,

We are delighted to inform you that you will be coming to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As we are unable to consider you as a student, an arrangement will be made for you as soon as you meet with Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts. A staff member will be picking you up rather shortly. You are to buy a few things in Diagon Alley before you get on the Hogwarts Express on platform nine and three quarters. A list of the items you will need to purchase will be attached to this letter. The headmaster, of course, will be paying for what you need as you do not have the wizarding currency for them. We hope to see you soon.  
Your's sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall,  
Deputy Headmistress' 

Loretta folded the letter up and placed it back in the envelope. Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, huh? Loretta had so many questions. She wondered to herself if this was some sort of prank the next door neighbors had decided to play on her. No, those morons couldn't make anything remotely like this up. Their shenanigans usually involved seeing who could blow up a vehicle with the most damage. What did this all mean?  
A loud blam could be heard from all the way in her room. Loretta darted from her room to her front door, letter in hand. A rather tall, scruffy man ducked under her now broken door frame. "Sorry about tha', couldn' get the bloody thing open." The half-giant apologized.

Loretta yelped and grabbed the nearest object, a glass vase on display, and smashed it over his head.

"OW! Blimey, wha' did yeh do tha' for?" He rubbed the spot on his head where he had been hit. Then, he closed the broken door behind him and made a shooing motion toward her. Loretta took a few steps back until she was out of his way.  
The man continued to stoop until he got over to the living room. He took a seat on the couch, creating a dip in the cushion. "Alrigh' lets getta the point."

The scientist was outraged. "Point?! What point? You came into my house completely uninvited, you sit down on my couch, and now you want to have a little chat?"  
"Well yea', how else am I supposta tell yeh about yer past." He asked.  
"Past?"

"Yea', 's sorta a long story, yeh might want ter have a seat." The scraggly man patted the seat next to him. Loretta sighed and complied to his invitation. As she sat down, she slid slightly toward the dent her visitor had made.  
"Alrigh', first off, this is goin' ter be pretty dense. Yeh're probably not gonna believe me at firs'. So how about I introduce meself? Me name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys."  
Loretta nodded, as she obviously could follow so far.

"Now, let's get ter the good bit." He continued. "Long ago, yer parents found ou' 'bout summat tha' scared 'em, summat 'bout yeh. Bein' Muggles, I'm not surprised. They decided ter change all yer identities and move from Norwich ter London. The Ministry o' Magic hadn' bin able ter find yeh since. Yeh were supposed ter become a studen' at Hogwarts. The thing is.." He paused. The suspense grew. "...Yer a witch Loretta."  
"Hold on, I'm a what?" The woman shook her head. She couldn't believe her ears. How could she be a witch? How could such a thing exist? "I don't follow.."

"Wha' did I tell yeh? I knew yeh wouldn' believe me."

"Wait, hold on. How do you know my name?"

"Tha' part isn' important righ' now."

Loretta rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine. Let's just suppose I'm a witch-"

"Which yeh are."

"Anyway… If I am, how would I go through life not knowing what I am?"

Hagrid thought for a moment. "Hm… have yeh ever been able ter do things tha' yeh haven' bin able teh explain?"

Loretta thought back. There had been some instances where she had done something that had no logical justification.

A long time ago, she went to go skating with her friends. One of them dared her to skate across the section where the ice was thin. She was very young then, about eight years old; she didn't know any better. She gave in to the peer pressure. The little girl glided across the ice floor, moving closer and closer to the other side. Her friends cheered her on, she was going to make it! And yet…

A crack began to form underneath her. The friends shouting shifted from encouragement to complete and utter terror. She couldn't move. Loretta furrowed her eyebrows and looked down; the crack had caught one of her ice skates blades. The more she pulled, the more cracks emerged. Her eyes darted around frantically. She grabbed ahold of her leg and continued to tug.

Eventually, she was able to escape. However.. As soon as she pushed off from the glaze, the whole thing broke apart and she fell, screaming and clawing at the air, into the freezing water below.

Her parents had to pull her out. She was in so long, they thought she would die of hypothermia. Her body was instead somehow able to fight off the extremely low temperature while in the water, she only came out with a cold.

"I.. suppose there have been a few." She was still skeptical, yet... being a witch would explain a lot.

Hagrid stood up, the dip he had made in the couch remained there. "A'ight then," He clapped his hands. "Let's get goin'."

"Excuse me, going where exactly?" She questioned, crossing her arms.  
"Well firs', Diagon Alley. Yeh should get ter packin'."

Loretta had a few things loaded up in her bags. There was, of course, enough space for everything she apparently needed from Diagon Alley. In among the luggage, she had a few outfits, sleepwear, her glasses case and cloth, the case holding her contact lenses, bathroom products/items, a few books, her journal, some snacks, the Howarts letter with the list attached, and other various items she found to be of importance. "I'm ready." She said as she squeezed her luggage through her bedroom door. The forensic anthropologist recalled the times when she had left her home for weeks, even months, to go on anthropological expeditions. She felt a sort of familiarity as she compared this situation to the very first time she had left her home for Egypt, where she had recovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian mummy with her assigned team.

"Before we go, I would like to make a call." She informed Hagrid.  
"O' course." He answered, not really understanding what she had meant. Wizards had no use for Muggle technology.

Loretta set her bags down and picked up the handset part of her landline phone, holding it up to her ear. She dialed the number of her bosses office. Somehow, she had to explain her reason for leaving all of a sudden.

She had bent the truth, glossing over the part about being a witch and needing to visit the headmaster of a magic school. Instead, she described it as if she had to go on another expedition, in Scotland this time, and she wouldn't have the ability the contact them. Her boss decided to put her on paid leave. She would be gone for a few months supposedly; Loretta didn't know how she was going to handle being away from work for so long.

"Yeh ready yet?" The half-giant asked.

Loretta placed her phone back on the switch-hook. "Yeah." She replied, grabbing her luggage. This was bound to be an interesting experience, she would soon find this wizarding culture to be most fascinating.


	2. Chapter Two: Blackthorn

**Chapter Two: Blackthorn**

Hagrid led Loretta through London all the way to the Leaky Cauldron. They approached a dark wooden door. Loretta gave the man a confused look. "This… is our stop..?" Her eyes scanned over the building. "Are you sure..?" Hagrid smiled down at the woman. "Well, it doesn' look like much, but 's pretty famous. Plenty o' magic folk gather 'round here." He said as he held the door open for her.

Loretta stood in the doorway as she surveyed the activity. There were a few groups of oddly dressed individuals here and there; to Loretta, their outfits looked like something out of a fantasy novel. 'I... guess they really do wear those...' She thought as a woman sporting a pointed witches hat passed by her. The room was dimly lit and the customers murmured their conversations. It didn't seem too busy here. A voice broke her concentration, "I can' hold 'is door forever."

"Oh, sorry." She blushed, stepping out of the way.

Hagrid ducked under the door frame as he slipped through. He stood next to her. Loretta was quite confused. "I… thought we were going to Diagon Alley..." She had assumed.

"We are, righ' through 'ere." He placed a hand on the small of the woman's back, attempting to guide her through the pub.

"Hey Hagrid!" Shouted an old, seemingly bald man from behind a counter. "The usual?" He asked. The half-giant simply shook his head at the man. "Not terday Tom, I gotta take 'is one ter Diagon Alley." He said, jabbing his thumb at the young woman.

Tom examined Loretta; her muggle clothes were a bit peculiar to the man. He looked her up and down. She simply wore tennis shoes, skinny jeans, a sweatshirt with a logo which read 'LLL'. "Who is this?" He had asked the man.

"Tha' is Loretta Knight."

" _Dr. Loretta Knight._ " The scientist corrected, a bit arrogantly.

Tom's eyes widened. "You finally found her?" He asked excitedly.

"Tha' I did." Hagrid said, beaming.

Tom continued to stare at the woman in fascination. "Goodness, the witch who grew up a muggle. Why, just a few months back ol' Hagrid brought in Harry Potter himself, and now you're standing right in front of me!" Loretta was quite confused at why this man was so ecstatic about meeting her for the first time. She didn't think she was all that important.

"Excuse me," A lady interrupted, "But did I hear someone say you're Loretta Knight?" She approached the forensic anthropologist inquisitively.

"Yes." She replied, feeling awkward from the lack of discretion. Loretta viewed all of the questioning about her as invasive.

The woman smiled brightly at Loretta. "Oh it's nice to finally meet you. The Ministry has been looking for you for years."

Loretta gazed at the woman with a muddled expression on her face. "What Ministry?" She couldn't imagine a whole organization searching for her.

"Why, the Ministry of Magic of course!" She affirmed. "Have you never heard of them?"

"Well, no I-" The young witch was cut off by a multitude of witches and wizards who came to see first hand, Loretta Knight, the witch raised Muggle. She felt overwhelmed by the crowd. Why was she so popular all of a sudden? Hagrid noticed this and stood in front of her. "Alrigh' alrigh', we've got work ter do. All o' yeh give us some space." He began to part the mass of magic folk that surrounded the woman. A few of the individuals stepped out of the way and Hagrid lead her toward the back entrance of the pub.

The door swung open and the half-giant made his way over to the wall with Loretta. "I don't understand, how exactly is this going to get us to Diagon Alley?" She questioned, staring blankly at the brick wall. Hagrid grinned at her. "Yeh'll see in a momen'."

"Hm.. let's see... was it… no…" He mumbled a little as he thought to himself. "Ah!" He exclaimed suddenly. The man then tapped five different bricks with what looked like an umbrella. Loretta's eyes widened. The wall was… moving... opening up! In that moment, all possibility of this whole thing being a big, elaborate con completely vanished; just like, well, magic. She gaped at the scene.

Facing Loretta was Diagon Alley; down the street were various colorful, oddly shaped shops. Hagrid pointed forward. "We shoul' be gettin' goin', we have the Hogwarts Express ter take us ter Hogwarts, we don' wanna miss tha'." He chuckled. "It only picks up and drops off students an' staff before and after the holidays and terms. The nex' holiday is Easter an' tha's a ways away from now."

It had been a few hours and Loretta had found most of the items on her list. Hagrid had to steer the woman away from many of the curiosities she was drawn to; he expected as much of someone who had never grown up in the wizarding world. Now all she needed were some robes and a wand. Hagrid had kept ahold of the money Dumbledore provided for the woman so she could get what she required. Loretta wondered if she would need a job in the wizarding world on top of her own Muggle job; she supposed she would figure that out eventually.

A bell chimed as Loretta pushed open the door to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. When Hagrid and her entered the shop, they were met with a short, cheery old woman. "Oh hello there Hagrid, and who is this?" She looked at Loretta quizzically, yet friendly as ever.

"Loretta Knight." He answered proudly.

Madame Malkin gasped. " _The_ Loretta Knight? Oh goodness let's get you some robes immediately!" She took the scientist's hand and ambled toward her selection of robes. "Now let's see here, hm… something professional should suit you." Over the course of an hour, the woman measured Loretta carefully and sifted through an abundance of witches robes. Nothing seemed to quite work for Loretta, she seeing as they weren't quite practical enough.

"Is there anything in particular you were looking for dear?" The old woman asked warmly. Loretta had no clue, she knew nothing about the garbs in the wizarding world, though something that allowed her to move properly would be nice. Nothing too long. As if she had read her mind, Madame Malkin pulled out a box that stored rather non-traditional witches attire.

The forensic anthropologist took the box into her hands, promptly set it on the table, and opened it. She retrieved each piece of clothing in the set, which included a sort of blousy-looking cinnamon corset top, chocolate brown bottoms, long leather overcoat, and some steampunk fingerless gloves. Madame Malkin also placed a second box on the table, which held a pair of high rise steampunk leather boots. Loretta continued to examine the clothing. "What do you think?" Piped up the store owner.

"This should work."

Their final stop before the Hogwarts Express was Ollivander's. As Hagrid and Loretta entered, an old man glanced down at them from a latter. "Oh yes, come in come in." The two approached the front desk. "You must be Loretta Knight, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said, ascending down the latter. The man held out his hand to Loretta. She shook it awkwardly, not exactly sure how he knew it was her. "Oh and hello to you too Hagrid."

"Mornin' Mr. Ollivander." He greeted.

Loretta examined the shop, her eyes flickering every-which-way. She ignored the two who were conversing; she wasn't much for small talk. She would hear a few words here and there, "...weather…. wands….. dragons….." Then her concentration was broken, "Would you like to see what we have in stock?"

"Hm?" The scientist turned to face Mr. Ollivander. "Oh yes." She nodded.

The man pulled a few wands from the shelves, then measured her. "Lets see, around ten inches should work.. Perhaps this?" He opened a box among the pile he had made on the counter, it held an alderwood wand. "Unyielding flexibility and dragon heartstring core. Give it a try!" Loretta didn't know what any of that meant. She picked up a wand and twirled it, nothing seemed to happen. "Oh no, not that one." Spoke Mr. Ollivander, taking the wand out of her hand.

Quite a few wands later and nothing seemed to fit quite right, not that Loretta knew what 'quite right' would feel like anyway. She started to hear something, a sort of humming. Her eyebrows knitted together as she searched for the noise. Apparently, it was close by.

Loretta's eyes fell on the pile of boxes that held the different wands. She dug through the mess and pulled out a very particular looking one. The case was dark with a silver swirled engraving. The woman opened it.

"That there is a blackthorn wand, unyielding flexibility, ten and three-quarter inches, phoenix feather core." Mr. Ollivander clarified.

"Hold on a momen', aren' those wands used on'y by those interested in the dark arts?" Hargid questioned the store owner, slightly nervous.

"Not necessarily, aurors have been known to use them as well." Mr. Ollivander shrugged. "The wand chooses the wizard."

Loretta heard a faint whisper that appeared to be coming from the wand; she drew her hand nearer and nearer, completely transfixed. She pulled the wand out and set down the box. A warm beam of light surrounded the woman and the murmur became louder. " _Loretta…!"_ The light vanished along with the sound she only seemed to be able to hear; she gasped shrilly.

"You alrigh' there?" Questioned a voice close by, it was Harid.

The woman shook her head. And blinked a few times. "Yeah, fine." She swallowed hard, staring at the wand in her grip. "Just fine."

Hagrid helped Loretta carry her luggage all the way to King's Cross Station. It was quite noisy when they got there, what with all the yelling, whistling, chugging and clickety-clacking. For once, they were somewhere normal, at least, normal for her. Loretta remembered something from the Hogwarts letter: 'platform nine and three-quarters'. It still didn't make sense, why would there be a platform called that? Though, she supposed it wasn't the oddest thing she had witnessed today. A few kids and their family stood near the wall in between platform nine and ten, they appeared to be wearing similar clothing to those she saw in Diagon Alley. Loretta observed them. The mother appeared to be kissing each child goodbye; one child turned toward the brick wall and…

...he was gone! He disappeared, right through the wall!

Loretta gawked at the spectacle. "How did-"

Another one of the children made a break for it, she ran through the wall, dragging her luggage with. The rest of the kids followed their siblings behind.

The forensic anthropologist looked toward Hagrid. "An' tha's how we get in." The half-giant explained. Loretta gave him an unsure look. "But how?"

"Jus' walk on through, ain't tha' hard." Which was easy for him to say; that wasn't exactly the case for Loretta. She stared at the wall; it was common sense not to run head first for a wall, so why in the world was she about to do it? The woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and bolted; her bags in toe.

"Wait I didn' say ter go yet!" Hagrid shouted after her.

Loretta opened her eyes, there were tons and tons of witches and wizards. "All aboard the Hogwarts Express on platform nine and three-quarters." Spoke a projected voice. She was there; she went through the wall and was actually there!

"Yeh really are a piece o' work sometimes." Mumbled Hagrid, who had just entered the platform.  
"I get that a lot." The scientist replied.

The half-giant adjusted his grip on her luggage. "Well, we better be makin' tracks." He led her toward the line to board the train. The staff were seated in a different section than the students, so they were made to go first. "You'll be sittin' with me." Hagrid explained.

Loretta and Hagrid moved toward the back of the train with the rest of the staff. The woman examined the area; she saw a few staff members already seated in the compartments. As she gazed into one of them curiously, she was met with cold, glaring black eyes. The man, who was dressed in all black robes, scowled up at her; he didn't look particularly friendly, so she turned away. What was his problem?

The half-giant pushed open the door of the next compartment over and the sat down. Loretta took a seat on the opposite side of him. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back, she let out a long-winded sigh. Hagrid decided not to speak, poor thing was probably rather tired after the recent events. Instead, he gazed out the window, watching as the train station moved further and further out of eyesight. 'Finally,' Loretta thought, 'some peace after this prolonged morning..'


End file.
